Situation

Formed in 1982 by the merger of Connecticut General Life Insurance and the Insurance Company of North America, CIGNA had expanded steadily through internal growth and acquisition. The company faced two key branding issues. First, could the CIGNA brand stretch to encompass an array of services that ranged from reinsurance and property and casualty to investment services and healthcare? Second, how well did the existing CIGNA identity serve the company’s desired brand image?

Challenge

Focus groups in the United States and in seven foreign countries found that generally customers were unaware of the broad array of products and services in the CIGNA portfolio, and little cross-selling and other synergies existed among the ten highly diversified and very independent business units. Research also confirmed that the existing “blue box” logo was uninspiring and did not convey the desired attributes. Nor did the business-to-business-oriented tagline, “We get paid for results.”

Solution

The “Tree of Life” identity and the slogan “A Business of Caring” enhances CIGNA’s image as thoughtful, caring and responsive while maintaining existing attributes of professionalism, stability and strength. A better understood nomenclature system and the simplification of thousands of company forms helps broaden audience appreciation of a diverse, full service, customer-focused organization.